Former B.C. men’s curling champion Sean Geall is back for a stab at a second provincial title.
The Royal City Curling Club skip, including 2012 champions Andrew Bilesky at third and Steve Kopf at second, and lead Mark Olson, rocked the house at the men’s Lower Mainland playdowns last weekend, taking the A event berth with a 9-3 win over clubmate Ken McArdle.
Geall won all three of his A event draws at the Cloverdale Curling Club, defeating RCCC skip Dean Joanisse 6-4 in the semifinal on the strength of three in the fifth and a double in the pivotal eighth.
In the seven-end A final, Geall opened with a triple in the first end and scored four more in the sixth after an attempted McArdle double.
McArdle, who finished the bonspiel with a 4-1 record, eked out a pair of one-rock wins over eventual C event winner Grant Dezura of Golden Ears and Royal City’s Sebastien Robillard in the A event leading up to the final.
The McArdle rink of third Chase Martyn, second Cody Johnston and lead Will Sutton, then defeated Joanisse 8-6 with a deuce in the 11th extra end to win the B event.
Joannisse, a former two-time B.C. champion from Victoria, was unlucky at the Mainland qualifier, losing in a second consecutive final to Dezura 8-5 in nine ends in the C event.
Stephen Schnieder of Vancouver Curling Club won the other C event berth, 8-3 over clubmate Richard Brower.
Robillard finished with a record of 3-3 at the Mainlands, while Royal City skips Don Smith was 2-3 and John Molendyk finished 0-3.
An open region event will also be held to round out the qualifying field at the Peace Arch Curling Club in South Surrey from Jan. 9 to 11.
The men’s B.C. championships will take place in Vernon from Feb. 3 to 8.
